Interview: Nintendo sold 400,000 3DS systems in first week

Nintendo launched its new handheld 3DS game system in the last week of March in a quiet fashion compared to that of its last system, the Wii.

Consumers bought just fewer than 400,000 Nintendo 3DS systems in the week after it was launched March 27, said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. "We are very satisfied with this start and we look forward to the momentum that we will build on Nintendo 3DS with the launch of the E-Shop, the launch of the 3-D trailers for Hollywood movies and the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in mid-June, as well as the launch of Netflix later on in the summer."

In addition to the 3DS sales, Nintendo sold more than 460,000 DS systems, sparked by the March 6 release of two new Pokémon games, which combined sold 2.5 million copies.

Also in March, consumers bought more than 290,000 Wiis, he says, resulting in a total of 1.1 million units of Nintendo hardware sold for the month. "A very strong March for the Nintendo business," he says.

Is it fair to compare the launch of the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo DS?It really is apples and oranges. When we launched DS we launched going right into the Thanksgiving week (in 2004). From a pure timing seasonality, you are not going to be able to compare the two launches. We are going to be continuing to sell DS and that platform is going to continue to build on its legacy of the best-selling hardware system ever in the US. I would love to have the Nintendo 3DS eclipse that, but this is a new platform that we have just given birth to. I would love to have ongoing comparisons to the DS business because that would certainly mean we are doing a good job growing the Nintendo 3DS business.

There haven't been sellouts of 3DS? Are you purposefully underpromoting it?I would characterize it as a launch where we learned significant lessons from the launch of Wii and we made sure to have not only ample supply in the marketplace, but we staged supply so it would not sell out. We had product going direct to store and we also had product in retailers (distribution centers), so they could easily replenish when they had stores running low on inventory. That strategy is why you didn't see massive sellouts on Nintendo 3DS. Obviously, a sell-through of 400,000 units in one week is exceptional. And the fact that we achieved that without people being worried about massive stockouts and shortages just underscored how we properly executed our supply chain.

Are there any foreseeable concerns about impacts on 3DS manufacturing with the catastrophes that have hit Japan?At this point, we can say that there are no negative repercussions to our supply chain from the tragedies in Japan. But as you know it's an evolving situation and it is something we continue to review very closely and attempt to manage as small an impact on our business as possible.

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About Mike Snider

Mike Snider began covering the video game industry during the Super Nintendo-Sega Genesis clash in 1992. An original pinball wizard, he eventually was seduced by Robotron: 2084 and Tempest. These days he is a fan of action/shooters and lives out his Keith Moon fantasies playing a mean drum kit on music games. More about Mike.

About Brett Molina

Brett Molina has been writing about video games for USA TODAY since 2005. He is well-versed in Madden NFL, the fighting genre and first-person shooters. The first video game he played was Asteroids at a local arcade. He has been hooked ever since. More about Brett.